Who is responsible for problem with new roof?

Contractors passing the buck on honoring warranty

Theresa Vazquez has not been able to get a contractor to cover the costs of… (DONNA FISHER, THE MORNING…)

April 14, 2012|Paul Muschick | The Watchdog

Luis Lopez and Theresa Vazquez felt their home renovation was in good hands because the work was being done through a federal government program, which they assumed would require everything to be in order.

Yet when a problem arose, Uncle Sam wouldn't step in. The government said it had met its obligations and the couple would have to resolve the problem directly with the contractor, which they've been unable to do.

"They require a warranty but then they don't really enforce it," Vazquez said. "There's no point in it if they don't enforce it."

She and Lopez renovated their Allentown home last year through a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program that tries to revitalize neighborhoods and expand homeownership opportunities by helping to fix houses.

HUD didn't do the work or pay for it. The program requires the homeowner to get a loan, and HUD administers the project. HUD approves each stage of the work and authorizes the bank to release the money. Its oversight minimizes the risk to the lender.

The homeowner chooses the contractor. Lopez and Vazquez selected Davis Contracting and Remodeling of Palmer Township, feeling safe because it had a good record with the Better Business Bureau, was insured and was registered with the state attorney general's office as required.

They signed a nearly $50,000 contract for work that included a new roof, new front entrance, new siding, new deck, bathroom renovation and other interior remodeling.

Lopez and Vazquez obtained a one-year warranty from the contractor, as instructed by HUD. They said despite the warranty, they've been unable to resolve a problem with their roof.

They said water leaked through a dormer into their children's bathroom and a hallway window shortly after the roof was installed early last year. They said Davis repaired that, and they thought everything was fine until September, when the region was drenched by Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

"It got so bad it leaked into my daughter's room, then dripped down into the living room," Vazquez and Lopez told me in an email seeking help. "The ceiling in my daughter's room got so saturated it collapsed one morning. I thank God she was already in school. Had she have been home, it would've fell on her head."

A hurdle they haven't been able to overcome is proving who is responsible for the roof work, something I also couldn't get to the bottom of.

Eric Davis, owner of Davis Contracting and Remodeling, told me he subcontracted the roof job to his cousin's company, A.J. Kerekes Construction of North Whitehall Township. It has an F grade from the Better Business Bureau.

A.J. Kerekes told me his company was not involved. He said he worked on the roof, but as an employee of Davis, not as a subcontractor. He said there was no subcontractor agreement between Davis Contracting and his company, and his company's name does not appear on any paperwork associated with the project.

Kerekes told me the roof was fine. Davis said there was a problem, with rotted wood around the chimney.

"It's not like I'm walking away from it," he told me, acknowledging that as the general contractor, he ultimately is responsible for the project. "I was up there numerous times trying to fix this roof."

Kerekes told me he couldn't recall if there was rotted wood. He said if there had been, it would have been addressed. He told me he did not return to the job when told about the problem because he believed that would have created the appearance that he held responsibility.

"At that point I just steered clear of the whole thing," Kerekes told me.

He said there was no leaking until after Davis did siding and flashing work around the new roof. Davis told me there was one "little leak" after he did that work, but it was in a different part of the home and was taken care of.

Davis told me he no longer is working as a contractor because he lost money on the job.

Stuck in the middle, Lopez and Vazquez turned to the contractors' insurance companies. That only got them so far.

Davis' insurer, Erie Insurance, paid them $6,704 for interior water damage but wouldn't pay for the roof to be fixed. Erie said in a letter that Davis' policy "does not pay to repair or replace the roof installation performed by our insured's subcontractor, A.J. Kerekes Construction."

Lopez and Vazquez used that money to fix the roof. They've made some of the inside repairs, too, including fixing the ceiling in their daughter's bedroom. But they still have more work to do, including fixing the living room ceiling.

They said they were unable to file an insurance claim with Kerekes' insurer. They said they contacted the insurer listed on his contractor registration paperwork with the state attorney general's office and were told that policy had expired.